


Falling for a king

by Fromtheashtree



Category: Trolls (Movies 2016 2020)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, I Don't Even Know, Weirdness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:15:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28832523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fromtheashtree/pseuds/Fromtheashtree
Summary: I'll change the title later :/Two human best friends end up in the troll world after trying to summon a troll using cupcakes and a summoning circle that looked a little too much like something you'd use to summon a demon, not a cute troll one friend claims will come. Said summoning circle ended up being a portal. At least it wasn't a portal to hell, right?"Uh Ash?""Yeah?""Have you noticed the way the king of the techno trolls keeps staring at you?""Everyone is staring at us, they've never seen humans before.""Well yeah, but he's...you know what? Nevermind.""Okay then..."She'll just figure it out herself.
Relationships: Branch/Queen Poppy (Trolls), King Trollex/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You ever watch a movie or show multiple times, then suddenly become obsessed with a minor character after watching it a hundred times? Or after like seeing the character in fifty episodes then it hits you that you love the character. However, when you go online there’s hardly any fanfictions for them? Yeah, that’s recently happened for me with King Trollex lmao. I’ve actually got a couple ideas for him but I’ll start with this one. This has a bit stronger language. It’ll be Trollex x OC (Ash). I don’t have an idea for the other OC Star yet but if you have any ship ideas lay them on me. I don’t even know if anyone will be reading this haha. It was kind of hard choosing names, I chose Ash because it’s something I use a lot for my OCs,  
> A little about the OCs  
> Ash  
> Age – 18  
> Hair color – dark brown  
> Eye color – hazel green 
> 
> Star  
> Age – 17  
> Hair color – blonde  
> Eye color – blue 
> 
> I won’t go too much into appearances for them so you can picture their features how you’d think in your head. Minus hair and eyes, though I guess you could picture that differently too. I thought about Trollex X reader but it’s easier for me to have an idea of a character in my mind as I write.  
> This chapter is unedited so I apologize.

“Witchcraft?” Ash stared at her best friend unimpressed. “It’s not-“Ash cut the girl off. “Do you want to go to hell? Because that’s how you go to hell.” Star groaned in annoyance. “Just be quiet and listen to me. Since when are you that religious anyway?” “I just don’t want to risk it, I feel like witchcraft is at the top of the list of what sends you to hell.” Star’s blue eyes narrowed at the brunette. “I said be quiet!” Ash frowned “You asked me a question.” Star turned away from Ash to pick up a book that was laying on the bed. “Anyway, have you heard of trolls?” “Like the ones that live under bridges. Oh dear god, are you trying to summon a troll? Like normal demons aren’t bad enough.” Star was ready to hit the other girl. “No, not like the ones under bridges- wait, you think summoning a troll would be worse than summoning a demon?” Ash shrugged her shoulders “Maybe? Who knows we might end up with an attractive demon, I highly doubt we’d end up with an attractive troll. They’re huge and not very smart, most likely smell horrible too. They look like they’d smell bad.” “Oh? Exactly how many trolls have you come across, since you have an idea of how they’d smell by their appearance.” Sarcasm dripped from the words Star spoke. “I mean, didn’t you grow up being read fairy tales to? They all have the same type of appearance in the books. Plus that one in the Harry Potter movie. Big and ugly.”  
“Anyway, smartass. That’s not the type of trolls I’m talking about.”  
“There’s more?”  
“Yeah!” Star held up the book to a page showing little creatures in some kind of pods on a tree.  
“Oh I see, the trolls kids grew up with for centuries are suddenly too scary so they now have to make kid friendly trolls so they don’t scare them.”  
“Ash-“ Ash cut the girl off once more grinning “Guess I don’t have to worry about going to hell, no way something that cute can send me to hell. Wait, you mentioned a spell?” “Oh, you finally gonna let me talk?”  
“ These trolls have actually been around for centuries too. They just aren’t spoken about often. Anyway, so from what I read these creatures can grant wishes. Apparently my great great great grandmother used the spell in this book to meet my great great great grandfather, a little troll popped up and helped grant her wish somehow.”  
“Somehow?”  
“So, I don’t know all the details.” Star shrugged. “Anyway, let’s see if we can get a troll.” Ash stood from her bed and grabbed the book. “You trying to get a troll to hook you up with some guy?” She mumbled as she flipped through the pages. “No, I just think it’s really cool. I don’t actually have a wish I can think of. I just really want to see a troll, and it’ll help me tell you ‘I told you so’”.  
Ash rolled her eyes “Uh-huh, so, how are we going to do this?”  
“I’ve actually already bought everything we need!” Star grinned and grabbed Ash’s arm leading her down to the kitchen. She pointed at the counter filled with baking supplies. Ash glanced over everything. Flour, sugar, eggs, butter, various seasonings, and extracts. “Look, we can make mini unicorn cupcakes too!” Star held up a unicorn mold. “Since you like to bake I figured you already had a regular cupcake pan.”  
“When you said ‘we can make mini unicorn cupcakes’ what you really meant was ‘you can make mini unicorn cupcakes’ right?”  
“Well…”  
“Get out of my kitchen.”  
“Okay.”  
Ash rolled her eyes as Star ran off into the living room. What a weird way to request for her to make cupcakes, if she wanted cupcakes that bad, she should have just asked. “But no, she decided to come up with a ridiculous story to get me to bake something. At least I don’t have to worry about going to hell for summoning a troll.” She mumbled to herself as she washed her hands and measured out all the ingredients. 

~  
“Where’s the unicorn cupcakes?”  
“I didn’t make them?”  
“Why? I bought the mold just so you could bake them for me.”  
“I don’t like unicorns.” Ash shrugged. “Unless you’re paying me you don’t have a say in what kind of cupcakes I bake.”  
“Since when do you not like unicorns?! You used to love unicorns.”  
“That was ten years ago Star.”  
Star picked up one of the cupcakes “At least they’re rainbow, it should help attract a troll.” She spoke as she looked over the cupcake “Hey, you even added edible glitter, this is perfect.”  
“I’m sorry, what?” Ash snatched the cupcake from her best friend “You are seriously trying to do some weird spell to summon a troll? I thought this was a ridiculous gimmick to get me to bake you cupcakes.” Shaking her head, she sighed. “Aren’t you too old to be trying to do something like this? It’s like when we tried to summon Bloody Mary in middle school. This stuff isn’t real.”  
“If it’s not real, then what’s the harm?”  
.  
.  
.  
.  
“Fine, but you better not waste all the cupcakes I made. You can only use one as bait or whatever it is.”  
“Let’s do it now! Come on, it’ll be fun. We can tell our future grandchildren about the time we summoned a troll. Though, do you think we should have a wish ready before hand?”  
“I think you’re an idiot.”  
The two made their way through the forest in Ash’s backyard. Ash stared at the back of the blonde’s head wondering what she was thinking. Sure, Star comes up with crazy ideas but this one is just ridiculous. “How far into the forest are we going to walk? I really want to go back home and finish reading the book I just bought.”  
“This should be good.” Star grinned as they entered a small clearing. “Okay, hand me the cupcakes please. I think we should use two, so we can try to summon two trolls. If we only summon one it might only be able to grant one wish, so we’ll try for two.”  
That’s it. She’s lost her mind; she actually believes this is going to work. Ash looked rather disturbed as she wordlessly handed Star the container holding cupcakes. Just let her do this, then she’ll see it doesn’t work and let it go, like the Bloody Mary thing. She thought to herself.  
While Ash stood awkwardly to the side Star set up a small circle that looked a little too much like something that might summon a demon rather than an innocent troll, yeah, there is no way some innocent cute creature would be coming from that. The fact that Star didn’t seem to notice that it looked like a legit summoning circle for something dangerous started to concern Ash.  
Did Ash believe the happy cutesy trolls were real? No.  
Did Ash believe that demons and legit summoning circles were real? Yes.  
The brunette shivered as it felt like the temperature around them dropped to a cold that she could feel in her bones. Deciding now would be a good time to speak up and tell the dumbass in front of her to stop before a legit demon appears, she opened her mouth only to be cut off by a loud guitar sound, which quickly changed to a pop tune, then country, classical, techno, funk, and was that kpop? Before she could recognize any other genre, they seemed to mold together into something painfully loud followed by a blinding light.  
~  
Slowly Ash sat up, her whole body ached. She took a moment to piece together what happened. She glanced at the blonde across from her. Oh, that’s right. The idiot decided to summon a demon, she frowned at Star. “Wow, you just skipped the demon part and just sent us straight to hell, huh?”  
Star blinked. “You think hell is this green?”  
Ash motioned for Star to look behind her. Star’s eyes widened at the view, it looked scary, rocky land no green to be seen and were those rivers of lava?  
“I-I don’t understand. What happened?”  
“You created a portal to hell.”  
“This can’t be real.” Star turned towards Ash, she started to shake as it sunk in what was happening. She had somehow transported her and her best friend to some place that may or may not be hell. The fear quickly spread through her veins and started to overwhelm her, causing her to hyperventilate. Ash moved quickly beside her friend; she raised her hands to comfort her but held them slightly hovering. Were you supposed to touch someone hyperventilating? How are you supposed to handle this type of thing? “Star, you need to breathe. Please, I’m right here with you. Breathe in and out slowly.” Though the breathing steadied she broke down into tears. “What do we do? I don’t understand what happened? I’m so sorry, I just wanted to do something fun. Ash. The story my grandmother told me. I’m sorry. I can’t believe I’ve done this to us.” 

While Star cried and apologized Ash slowly steadied herself to breathe. It was difficult enough with Star panicking, they needed her to stay levelheaded now. I can panic later. She patted Star awkwardly on the back as she glanced around at their surroundings. The summoning circle/portal was gone, where is the book? “Star, do you have the book?” Ash distanced herself a bit to glance over her friend. She frowned when Star started to cry harder. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Please Star, calm down. I know you’re scared but we really need to figure out where we are.” They didn’t have the one thing that could probably get them home. Ash looked around them, the trees seemed to be abnormally big. “Listen, I’ll give you some time to calm down, but we really need to get up and find out where we are. Maybe we can find someone to help us.”  
Though it took a bit longer than Ash had hoped, Star did calm down enough for the two of them to set off. Both decided they would go deeper into the forest rather than test out the rocky land.  
The walk was quiet, neither knew what to say to the other. They had walked about two hours before they finally came across something. A giant worm like creature stood before them, almost the size of a school bus. Despite it’s bright pink and yellow appearance it looked dangerous. Opening its mouth showing sharp yellow teeth.  
“Run.” Ash whispered grabbing Star’s arm. The creature followed; they had only been running a few minutes before Ash began to get tired. So much for life-or-death situations giving you a burst of energy Ash gravely thought as she continued to drag the blonde with her. We are going to die. She thought right before hearing a warrior like cry. Some weird greyish blue thing jumped out in front of the giant beast, and somehow was able to chase it off. Their hero turned to them with narrowed eyes.  
“What are you?”  
Neither Ash nor Star replied.  
“Well?” The odd creature pulled out a sharpened stick. The thought that death by the worm would’ve probably been quicker crossed Ash’s mind.  
“Branch! What are you doing?!” Another one popped out of the bushes knocking the stick from the grey one’s hand. This new pink one turned to the two friends “Hello!” Star managed to respond first.  
“Hi.”  
“We don’t know what or who they are!” The one named Branch stepped slightly in front of the pink one in a protective manner.  
Ash stared at the creatures in confusion, their hair that looked like a fuzzy texture defined gravity. Matching the colors of each of the creatures.  
“We’re humans.” Ash mumbled awkwardly.  
The pink one tilted her head staring at the odd looking ‘humans’ before her. They seemed nice enough. “Hi, I’m Poppy. I’m Queen of the pop trolls, and this is Branch.” She pointed towards the grumpy looking troll beside her.  
“I’m Ash.” The dark-haired girl spoke unsure of herself.  
“I’m Star, thank you for saving us.” She turned towards Branch with a small smile. “We’re really thankful you came when you did.”  
Star’s eyes widened “Wait, did you say trolls?”  
Both trolls nodded.  
A shit eating grin grew on Star’s face while a frown crossed Ash’s.  
“I told you so!” Star shouted in Ash’s ear.  
Ash sighed rubbing her forehead. Well, at least they weren’t in hell.


	2. Chapter 2

“You came from another world?” The one called Branch stared at the two humans, the distrust coming from him was almost tangible. They had been led by the two trolls to a small pod like thing in a tree to explain more. Despite the distrust from him, the other troll seemed to welcome them with open arms. She happily led them towards the pod talking about how they could stay with them as long as they’d like. “It’s kind of a long story.” Star mumbled awkwardly. Branch crossed his arms. “We have time.” Star fidgeted a moment before turning to her best friend. “You’ll be better at explaining this than me.” Ash gave her an unimpressed look and sighed before explaining.   
“You tried to summon one of us?” Branch glared at the humans. “So, a troll would’ve been stuck in your world unable to leave?” Star shook her head holding her hands up panicking. “Wait no, you don’t understand. My great great great grandmother-“ Ash covered Star’s mouth. This idiot is just going to make everything worse. “It was a mistake, we thought it was just a silly game her great grandmother used to play. Games like that aren’t uncommon for children to play in our world.”   
Poppy tilted her head to the side going over the words. “Grant wishes?” Star nodded as Ash shrugged unsure. “I’ve never heard of anything like that, I think we should ask my father.” Poppy turned towards the other troll. “Hey Branch, could you go get my dad?” Branch looked at her like she had lost her mind. “What? You want me to leave you alone with them?” He pointed accusingly towards the two friends. “I’m not leaving you alone with them. Look, you go get King Peppy and I’ll stay here with them.” The look he gave her left no room for argument. “Okay, but you better be nice to them.” She ordered. He huffed in response as she ran off. “So uh, that your girlfriend?” Star grinned.   
“Star, shut up.”  
~  
It was not long before the queen returned with an older orange troll. Ash glanced over him, noting his graying hair that looked like it had once been the same shade of his daughter’s hair. His expression switched from confusion to shock after laying eyes on the humans before him. “W-what? What did you say you are?” He stepped closer to Star but still kept a small distance. “We’re humans.” Star stepped back awkwardly. “Humans” He mumbled softly to himself. “and you say you’re from another world?” Ash once again repeated the story of how they ended up in this world.   
“You were trying to summon a troll to grant a wish? What wish did you want granted?”   
Ash shook her head. “I didn’t have a wish, like I said I thought it was just some silly story.”   
He turned to Star “Oh, um, yeah, I didn’t have a wish.” He gave her an odd look. “But it was your idea?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Well, what were you going to do if a troll actually appeared?”  
“Share the cupcakes Ash made?” Yeah, Star had no idea what she would’ve done.   
Weirdly enough, the former king and the current queen happily welcomed them. Explaining they had a library of scrapbooks that might have some information about how the two can return home. The two trolls and Star happily chatted about this. Ash turned to Branch who still looked uneasy. He seemed to be the more sensible one of the trio.   
“Let’s go, we’ll take you to the library and we can see what we have.” Queen Poppy grinned as she turned to lead everyone. “Wait, Poppy, maybe it’s better to not bring them through the middle of the village? At least right now.” Branch spoke up as everyone walked down a path. Nearing their destination an odd version of ‘girls just want to have fun’ could be heard. Ash raised a brow hearing it. Trolls just want to have fun? “It might upset everyone, a meeting to introduce them first would probably go more smoothly.” Yeah, Branch is definitely the more sensible one Ash thought to herself. “Oh, I guess you’re right.” Poppy shrugged and turned towards them with a grin. “Let’s get you two settled first. You’re probably tired anyway.” As Poppy spoke the words exhaustion hit Ash like a train. Now that she knew they were safe for the most part, the exhaustion quickly caught up. Branch offered to lead them to a room that would be a safe enough distance nobody should notice them at the moment, but they’d still be within the village limits. It was starting to get dark the closer they got to the village though it seemed nobody would be going to bed just yet. The music was getting louder, and bright lights flashed, instead of seeing getting close enough to see much of the village they were lead towards their room. “Is it okay if you share this room for now? We can get your own rooms tomorrow.” Branch mumbled. It had two standard beds; it would be enough. “It’s fine, thank you.” He nodded. “Okay, goodnight.” “Night.”  
As they started to settle down someone stood outside the room and called out “Sorry, are you still awake?” It was the queen. Star stood to open the door and let the queen step inside. “I know you’re tired, but I wanted to go ahead and give you these. They are some scrapbooks with our history; you could look through them once you’re ready. Tomorrow morning I’ll come by and” a bracelet on her wrist lit up. “Oh it’s hug time!” She pulled the two into a hug. “Ah sorry, it’s a habit. We hug every hour.” Ash’s eyes widened. “Every hour?” “Yup!” “Anyway, I’ll come by in the morning. Oh, and here’s some cake for dinner.” Ash took the cake from the troll. “Oh, thanks.” Poppy grinned. “Of course, goodnight.”   
Ash stared at the door with a frown.  
“They hug every hour.”  
“Come on Ash. Let’s look through these books.”   
After half an hour of flipping through the scrap books Ash tossed one on the small table. “These are useless.” She sighed flopping back on the bed. “Maybe we’re just looking over something important because we’re tired?” Star offered. “Maybe.” Ash mumbled turning into her pillow. “We’ll figure it out in the morning, right? Goodnight Ash.” The brunette didn’t bother responding.   
~

Ash and Star stood across from the three trolls they had met the day before. Ash had hoped that it was just a really strange dream her mind made up after the story Star told her. She was pretty sure Star had felt the same way. King Peppy once again listened to the odd story of how the girls got to their world. After the great grandmother was mentioned again King Peppy spoke up “How long ago was this?” He looked up at Star. “Oh, it was my great great great grandmother so” Star glanced at Ash hoping she’d have an answer. “Maybe 100 or 150 years?” Ash mumbled thinking of what year her own grandparents were born and doing some math to get a basic idea of when her grandparent’s great grandparents would have been alive. King Peppy nodded, “The information was most likely lost if it was that long ago, with everything that’s happened in the last 100 years.” Ash rubbed her forehead feeling a headache coming on. Of course, she thought bitterly.   
“But the other tribes might know something.” King Peppy rubbed his chin.  
“Other tribes?”   
“Yeah, there’s tribes for different music. The main ones are pop, country, funk, classical, techno, and rock.” Poppy grinned.   
“Do you think they’ll know about the wishes, or maybe a way to get us home?” Star questioned hopefully.   
“We’ll need to ask them; I’ll send out messages to every tribe requesting the leaders to come here for a meeting.”   
Ash tilted her head processing the new information. “Where do the other tribes live?” Poppy turned to her “They live in different lands.” “Could you describe the lands?” Poppy nodded. “Yeah, so the country trolls live in a desert type land, the classical trolls live in the mountains, techno trolls live under the sea, funk trolls live on a flying ship” Star and Ash glanced at each other at the flying ship detail “and the rock trolls living in a rocky place. There’s not many plants there.” Poppy grinned.   
~  
The two humans watched as the trolls sang and dance to a different version of another popular pop song. “Isn’t it weird? They have versions of our songs, yet they don’t know anything about our world or humans.” Star questioned as she continued to stare at the singing and dancing trolls. “Honestly, it’s probably the least weird thing about this situation.” “Yeah, but it’s still weird.” They waited for the trolls to finish their performance, apparently the Queen would be introducing them to everyone later in the day. She had told them to relax beforehand, though with the constant music and dancing it was a tad bit hard to truly relax. So, they both sat watching the trolls and eating cupcakes the queen kindly brought them. “You know, these cupcakes taste better than yours.” Star mumbled as she stuffed another colorful cupcake in her mouth. “Why would you say that?” “It’s true though.” They stared at each other a moment before Ash huffed. “Whatever.”   
After another three or four songs the queen and Branch approached them. “Hi! Are you ready to meet everyone?” “Honestly? Not really.” Just the idea of being introduced to that many people bothered Ash but having to be thrust in front of them wasn’t ideal. Though they didn’t really have much of a choice in the matter. “It’ll be okay, we’ll be right here with you the whole time, right Branch?” Poppy nudged Branch as she spoke. “Right.”  
Poppy stood on a type of colorful mushroom while other trolls surrounded it. There were so many of them, though they all looked different color wise for the most part they were all very similar. “Look at them, they’re covered in glitter.” Star shook Ash’s shoulder to get her attention. “I know, I can see them.” Poppy grinned down the villagers waiting to hear what the meeting was about. “Hi everyone! So, I recently made some new friends and I’d like to introduce them to you.” Branch motioned for them to follow him up. The silence that followed when they came into view of everyone was deafening. Ash clinched and uncliched her fist, a nervous habit. “These are my new friends, Ash and Star.” Poppy glanced at the shocked and confused faces in the crowd then paused realizing she hadn’t actually thought of how she was going to explain what they were. She blinked racking her mind for something to say. Thankfully Branch who was concerned something like this might happen quickly stepped in. “They’re a different type of troll, from another land. They’re kind of rare…” he trailed off waiting for Poppy to pick up. “Right! Yeah, they’re friends from a distant land. They will be staying with us a little while. I hope everyone makes them feel welcomed.” A larger blue troll with light colored hair spoke up. “Different type of troll? What type are you?” Poppy turned to Ash and Star though the two of them just looked completely lost. “What kind of music do you play?” Oh, right. They were separated by different genres of music. “We don’t sing or play any kind of instruments.” Ash spoke up. The crowd including Queen Poppy gasped in horror.   
“So, you do like music.” Poppy sighed in relief. After the comment many trolls started yelling out and it was decided they should step aside for a moment. “Yeah, of course. I just can’t sing or play any instrument. Neither can she.” Ash pointed with her thumb towards Star. “I don’t believe that, I believe you can sing, just try.” Ash shook her head. “I can’t sing well.” She corrected herself. Star nodded. “Yeah, I sound like a dying cat.” She laughed thinking about the last time she was singing for someone. Poppy stepped back towards the crowd. “It’s okay everyone, they do like music. They just believe they can’t sing well.” A sound of relief went through the crowd. Though an odd feeling swept over Ash, she had a feeling Poppy would eventually be pushing them to sing. I guess if they want their eardrums to bleed that’s on them. She thought.  
Everyone accepted them rather easily, some asking about where they were from. “This material feels odd.” Satin or Chenille (Ash wasn’t sure which one was which at the moment) mumbled as they tugged on Ash’s jacket. Ash didn’t know how to respond; it was a normal cotton zip up hoodie. Honestly, she was more caught up on the fact they were conjoined by their hair. What would happened if they cut their hair? While Ash was lost in thought about the twins’ shared hair, Star was gushing over a tiny glitter troll. “Oh, you’re so cute.” Star bent down to look the little glitter troll in the eye. “What’s your name?” “Tiny Diamond.” Star blinked shocked after hearing his deep voice. “Daddy!” The tiny troll ran to a larger glitter troll that looked similar to him. Poppy pulled the two along introducing them to all her closest friends.   
Biggie, Satin and Chenille, Guy Diamond, Smidge…Ash thought to herself trying to remember the handful that seemed to be pushed onto her. She was probably forgetting some names but there was way too much going on, she just wanted to go back to her room, though the meeting ended up turning into a party to welcome the two of them and it would be rude to leave a party for you too early.   
~  
“I changed my mind, we’re in hell.” Ash groaned as Star sat beside her on the bed. “Oh, come on, it’s not that bad.” Ash turned to Star with a blank stare. “They hug every hour, they sing pop music almost nonstop, they only eat sweets, you enjoy this?” Star laughed awkwardly. “At least you like pop? It could be a genre you don’t like.” Ash flopped back on her bed. “Honestly, it’s hard to hate pop. But even if I loved pop, they sing it nonstop. Add some rock in or something. Also, I’m pretty sure I’m getting a cavity.” Ash grumbled running her tongue over one of her wisdom teeth. They had already been there one week now; the other tribe leaders should be arriving today according to Queen Poppy. “God, I hope one of the tribes has information on how we can get home.” While everyone welcomed them with open arms, it was just too much. “Hey, I wonder what the other trolls look like.” Star poked Ash’s side as she spoke. “Everyone just accepted it when Branch and Poppy said we’re trolls. So, I’m curious what the other ones might look like.” Ash slapped Star’s hand away. “We’ll see in a few hours; I can’t even begin to try to imagine what they might look like.” Star tsked the brunette. “Not creative enough?”   
“If you don’t shut up. Go away, I want to rest before we are dragged to the meeting. Who knows how it will end up? Hopefully not another all-night party.” Ash stood up to shove Star out of the room.   
She groaned as she fell back onto the bed. “This is too much.” While she loved her best friend, she also loves time to herself. Typically reading books alone at night, but since coming to this world there hasn’t really been any quiet time. There are weird creatures that are much larger than her, so the idea of going out on a walk alone concerned her. Star wouldn’t be much help on a walk because she doesn’t know how to handle those creatures either. The trolls know how to handle the creatures and which ones are safe, however, she wouldn’t really get the peace and quiet she longed for with a troll. Maybe Branch, but he still seemed suspicious of them and she didn’t want to bother anyone by dragging them out.   
“Knock knock, are you ready?” A voice called from behind Ash’s door. She frowned at the door. “Not really.” The door opened to reveal Star grinning. “Oh, come on, they might have the answer for how we can get home.” Yeah, not getting my hopes up. Ash thought as she followed Star towards the library.   
~  
The two humans stood an awkward distance from the circle of trolls in the library. “I think we’re late.” Star loudly whispered to Ash. The large group turned to look at the two. Ash gulped; the feeling of their eyes was so much more intense than when Queen Poppy introduced the two to her village. Probably because they know we are not from this world. Ash took a deep breath and stepped forward, trying to ignore the feeling of their eyes on her. “I’m sorry, are we late?” Poppy grinned at the two. “Oh no, don’t worry we didn’t give you a set time. Let me introduce you to everyone.” She first pointed to towards trolls who looked more like giraffes body shaped wise. “This is King Quincy and Queen Essence, They are the king and queen of the funk trolls.” Wow, they’re cooler than I’ll ever be was the first thought that crossed her mind when she got a good look at them. Both gave the two friends warm smiles. “This is Mayor Delta Dawn, she’s mayor of the country trolls.” She held her hands on her hips are she stared at them. A horse type troll? I guess it fits the country part, her outfit certainly looked country. “This is Trollzart, he’s the leader of the classical trolls.” Ash glanced to the small troll that reminded her a bit of a cherub with the hairstyle of someone from the 1700s. “This is King Trollex, he’s the king of the techno trolls.” Wait, is that actually his beating heart? Ash stared at the center of his chest for a moment before noticing his lower half. Oh my god, is he a merman? Mertroll? “And this is Queen Barb, she’s queen of the rock trolls.” The grey troll reminded Ash of the kids in high school she wanted to be friends with but was too shy to approach.  
“Now, what did ya’ll say ya’ll are?” Mayor Delta was the one to speak up first. The thick southern accent threw the two humans off. Despite her genre being country, they weren’t actually expecting to hear a southern accent. “We’re humans.” Star smiled awkwardly at the mayor. Queen Essence stepped closer to the two and tilted her head. “We weren’t able to find anything in our records about humans. How exactly did you get here?”   
After sharing the story of how they arrived once again, all the leaders glanced at each other unsure. “So, did anybody happen to come across anything?” Queen Poppy asked hopefully. Ash blinked and suddenly a neon blob moved close to her and Star, blinking once more the ‘blob’ cleared and she realized it was the king of techno. He moved back just as quickly. “How long ago was it you believe your grandmother might have summoned a troll?” He questioned Star. “It was my great great great grandmother, I’m not sure of the exact time, but I think maybe 100-150 years ago.”   
Queen Barb’s eyes locked on Ash’s wrist. “Is that a tattoo?” Barb questioned while reaching for Ash’s arm and pulling it closer to her face to see the word written on her right wrist. “Friend?” Ash gently tugged her arm back and pulled the sleeve of her jacket down to cover her wrist once more. “Uh yeah.” Barb crossed her arms. “Are you sure you’re not part rock troll? You have a tattoo.” She laughed awkwardly stuffing her hands in her pockets. “I’m sure. Tattoos are a human thing too.” King Quincy stepped forward to get everyone’s attention. “If it was that long ago, we need to look deeper in any records we might have. It might also help to ask our elders if they heard any stories when they were young about different worlds. It’ll be best to keep the information about them bring from another world quiet for now though.” Everyone nodded in agreement.   
“Oh, do you think the bergens might have any information? I can ask Bridget.”  
“I don’t think they’d know anything, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” Branch shrugged.   
“What’s a bergen?” Star questioned.  
~  
Star tugged Ash around the village. “I wonder what the bergens are like? I swear this feels like a really weird dream I can’t wake up from. Do you think we’ll be able to visit the other trolls’ tribes’ homes? I’m really curious about the spaceship one. That would be so cool, don’t you think so?” Star paused waiting for Ash to reply. The brunette perked up as a familiar scent crossed her “Ash, I’m talking to you. Hey, where are you going? Ash?” Ignoring her friend, Ash headed towards the smell which led her to Queen Poppy and another troll. “Oh Ash, this is my friend Hickory. He’s a yodeler, Hickory this is Ash, she’s one of the ones I was telling you about.” Hickory tilted his hat in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you sweetheart.” His brow raised when he noticed she wasn’t actually paying attention to him, instead she was focused on the beverage in his hand. “Would you like a cappuccino?”   
“God yes.”  
Hickory motioned for her to sit down as he stood to fix her drink. Star plopped down beside Ash a moment later mumbling about how she’d left her. “His cappuccinos are great.” Poppy grinned. The troll came back quickly with the drink and asked Star if she’d like one. “No thanks, I don’t drink coffee.”   
“This is amazing. I think this is the best cappuccino I’ve ever had.” Sure, the fact it’s the first cappuccino she’s had in a week after eating nothing but sweets all week might make it taste slightly better than it actually is, but it’s still a good cappuccino.   
Hickory smirked at the compliment. “Thank you darlin’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, planning for the next chapter to have more Trollex. Hopefully it'll be up tomorrow, or at least by the end of this week. I'm going to try to push getting out at least three more chapters this week though. We'll see.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash and Star debate where they should stay if they're going to be in the troll world long term. Star doesn't mind the nonstop singing and dancing of Pop Village but it's a bit too much for Ash. Luckily the other leaders are just as welcoming as Queen Poppy.

Everyone in the other tribes has been beyond welcoming. They didn’t seem bothered by the fact Ash and Star were human, more curious than anything. The ones who seemed to take the most interest was Queen Barb and King Trollex. Ash knew Queen Barb was interested because of Ash’s love of rock music. King Trollex seemed to be interested in where they came from, though she hadn’t really had a proper conversation with him yet.   
She glanced at the queen of rock wondering if she could go with Queen Barb back to her city, she looked like she also had enough of pop for the moment and was fairly sure the queen would be okay with it. Though, would it be rude to ask? The red-haired queen noticed her and waved. “Hey!” Ash waved back and started walking to the queen. “Hi.” Barb grinned at Ash “You know, I was thinking. Are you sure you’re not at least part rock troll? You have the tattoos, you like rock music, and your name is Ash.” She laughed at the comment. “Pretty sure, my dad is really into rock though.” Barb grabbed her guitar. “Can you play?” “I cannot.” Ash shook her head. “Oh, maybe I can teach you! It’ll be a nice break from the pop music, right?” She laughed and Ash had to agree. Though she doubted she could properly learn from the troll. Their hands were completely different, and trolls only had four fingers. But Barb was right, it’ll be a nice break even if it’s only listening to Barb play.  
Star glanced at King Trollex as Ash spoke to Queen Barb. “Rock music is her favorite genre. She’s hoping she can visit Rock City and get a bit of a rest from pop music.” The king turned his gaze from Ash to Star. “She wants to leave pop village?” Star nodded. “Yeah and go to Rock City. If we never find a way home that’s probably where she’d like to end up.” The king looked like he glitched for a moment. “Who knows, maybe she’ll find a nice rock troll to settle down with. Though now that I think about it, she might want to follow Hickory home. She loves his cappuccinos.” She laughed to herself, thinking it was a ridiculous thought, a troll and a human? Though she stopped when she looked at the king. He wasn’t laughing. 

~

“I think I should cut you off.” Hickory laughed as he handed Ash another cappuccino. “It’s so nice to have something that isn’t sickly sweet after only eating sweets the last week. On top of that it’s an amazing cappuccino.” Ash sighed as she took another sip. “Darlin’, this is the last one. I’ll make you some more tomorrow.” The troll winked at her. Hickory looked past her shoulder and raised a brow. Ash turned to see what he was looking at. “King Trollex?” The king grinned gliding towards her. She had completely missed the look he had tossed Hickory before she turned. Hickory wondered for a moment if the king himself realized what look he gave him. “You can just call me Trollex. I was curious about something, so I thought I’d ask you.” Ash nodded for him to continue. “Star was talking about how you have rock in your world. Do you have techno?” Ash tilted her head. “Yeah, we do. We have all the genres I’ve seen so far.” The king looked like he started to glow more brightly than he already was. “Oh really?” Hickory excused himself saying something about finding his brother. “Yeah, but honestly I don’t know much about it.” The look of disappointment that crossed his face made her stomach twist. “But I’d love to hear some.” She quickly spoke trying to help the situation. King Trollex perked up. “You can visit techno reef.” Ash stared at him unsure, isn’t techno reef underwater? He didn’t seem to notice her expression as he continued. “You can come to one of our parties. Oh, we can have a party to introduce you to everyone!” He moved close enough to her that she could smell the ocean on him and practically feel his heart beating excitedly. She was pretty sure that was his actual heartbeat. Which lead her to wonder if his heart was shaped like that. “That sounds fun, though isn’t it underwater? Me and Star can’t breathe underwater.” Trollex blinked. “Oh, well maybe we can bring the party on land.” He grinned again at the thought. Ash nodded “Yeah, that sounds fun.” Staring at his heart beating, she was so tempted to touch it. How did he glow like that? If that is his heart, why is only his heart visible? Does he even have other organs? I wonder what he feels like she thought as she glanced over the rest of him including his scales. The scales seemed to only be on his tail and fin like ears, the rest of his body seemed smooth like the other trolls. The bands on his arms were interesting too. Trollex frowned as he noticed Poppy waving for him in the background. “Sorry, we’ll have to chat later.” He waved to her before heading towards Poppy. Not long after he left Star joined Ash sitting under the tree she was at.  
“He said he wants to introduce us to everyone.” Star raised a brow. “Did he?” “Yeah.” “Do you remember his exact words?” Ash tossed Star a confused look. “We can have a party to introduce you to everyone.” Star nodded. “uh-huh, and do you think he was using ‘you’ as singular or plural?” “Well, I mean, he was talking to me but I’m sure he meant it plural. Why would he want to throw a party only to introduce me? I’m sure like Queen Poppy he’s excited to introduce everyone to the new people.” Ash rolled her eyes.   
Star glanced at the King of Techno chatting with the Queen of Pop.  
“Uh Ash?”  
“Yeah?”   
“Have you not noticed the way King Trollex keeps staring at you?”  
“Everyone stares at us; they’ve never seen humans before.”   
“Well yeah, but he’s…. you know what? Never mind.”  
“Okay then.”   
She’ll just figure it out herself. Star shrugged. “I’m a bit tired, I’m going to go back to my room and relax. Goodnight.” Ash headed off.   
“You’ve noticed, right?” Star turned to a troll in the background.  
“Oh yeah.” Branch nodded.

~

“Where am I supposed to put this finger?” Ash questioned Barb as she awkwardly held the guitar. “I don’t know.” Barb laughed as she watched the human move her fingers around trying to find the right position. “It’s so weird you have five fingers instead of four.” “In my world it’s weird not to have five fingers.” Ash grumbled which made the rock queen laugh even more. “Maybe, but we’re not in your world.” “Yeah, yeah. How about you just play a song? I doubt I’ll ever learn to play since I don’t have a teacher with five fingers.” “We could chop the extras off.” Ash dropped the guitar, she sounded way too serious. “What?!” Barb laughed at her expression. “Oh come on, it’ll leave a gnarly scar.” Barb teased. “No, there’s no way I’m letting you cut off my fingers.” Barb shrugged. “Okay, okay, maybe I can teach you another instrument? Maybe drums? Riff would probably be best to help teach you to play drums though.” Ash was pretty sure she is a lost cause. She had zero talent for music, she doubted even the greatest teacher could help her. “It’s so weird you can’t sing or play any instruments. I’ve never met anyone with zero talent.” Barb mumbled as she played a few notes on her guitar. “Are you sure you can’t sing?” “You really don’t want to hear me sing.” Ash laughed. Barb shrugged and continued playing. 

~ 

The troll leaders sat in a circle with Ash and Star joining them. “I spoke to the elders and looked deeper into our records, I didn’t come across anything talking about humans or other worlds.” Mayor Delta was the first to speak up. Unfortunately for Ash and Star everyone else had a similar answer. “Did you talk to the bergens? That’s what they’re called, right?” Ash questioned. Poppy nodded. “Yeah, but they didn’t have any information either. Though Bridget wants to meet you, she said she can stop by in a few days.” Ash deflated at the answer. They really needed to return home. She could only imagine how panicked their family and friends were. Kidnapped? Dead? Ran away? No, I left my new book at home. I would’ve taken it if I ran away. Plus, extra clothes. Ash glanced down at the red dress the conjoined twins kindly made her. The texture was a bit odd almost like felt, but it was comfortable. I wish I had a way to at least let them know we’re safe even if we can’t return.   
Mayor Delta, King Quincy, Queen Essence, King Peppy, and Trollzart had left, leaving just Queen Poppy, Queen Barb, King Trollex, Ash, and Star. It wasn’t long before Branch and Hickory showed up to join them. “Does anyone want a cappuccino?”  
“I need to find someone who looks at me the way Ash looks at Hickory when he places a cappuccino in front of her.” Star laughed at Ash’s expression when the cappuccino was placed in front of her. “So, since you can’t return at the moment. You can stay with us as long as you’d like.” Poppy kindly offered once again. Ash frowned at the thought. She really didn’t want to stay with the pop trolls for god knows how long. “Or you could come stay in Rock City.” Barb playfully punched Ash’s arm. Trollex frowned thinking back to the comment Star had made. “If you’re sure I wouldn’t mind staying here.” Star grinned at Poppy. Ash glanced at Star and frowned. She really didn’t want to stay here, but she also didn’t want to go anywhere without Star. “You could come back with me and Dickory.” Hickory offered Ash, the expression she made after Star’s comment wasn’t missed by him. Trollex zipped to the small gap between Queen Barb and Ash. “You could come to Techno Reef.” The scent of the ocean suddenly washed over Ash. It reminded her of the summer vacations to the beach she always took with her family. “I told you, I don’t think I could breathe underwater.” “Wait, you can’t breathe underwater?” Branch looked at her like she was crazy. “You can?” Branch along with every other troll nodded. Star scooted closer to Ash. “Maybe it’s different here? We should try.” She mumbled in her ear. Ash twitched as Star’s breath hit her ear and pushed the blonde away. “Don’t do that again.” She mumbled as she rubbed her ear. “You don’t like sweet nothings whispered in your ear?” Hickory laughed. “Not by her.” Trollex leaned a bit closer to Ash while grinning. “Star is right, you should try.” “That’s great and all but we’re talking about where Ash wants to stay.” Barb spoke while crossing her arms. “Well, if they can breathe underwater Ash might want to stay at Techno Reef.” Poppy pipped up. “Nah, Ash wants to stay where the best music is.” Poppy narrowed her eyes. “Then she should stay in Pop Village.” Ash stared at the ground; she wasn’t the biggest fan of yodeling. She didn’t know anything about techno and still wasn’t sure if she could breathe underwater. Rock city seemed like the best option. “Why don’t you come to Techno Reef first and then you can decide?” Ash sipped her cappuccino and shrugged. “Okay, but I don’t want to waste your time. If I can’t breathe underwater.” Trollex shook his head and just grinned. “Not a waste of my time.”  
A sly grin spread on Hickory’s face. “Darlin’ you sure you don’t want to come stay with me? I doubt you’ll find a cappuccino as good as I make anywhere else.” Oh, that’s a good point, I wonder how often they yodel? I might could deal with it if it’s not that often. Ash thought to herself. The techno king seemed to deflate when he noticed Ash was interested in the offer. Star joined in on the teasing. “If Rock City or Techno Reef don’t have cappuccinos you might have her Hickory.” She spoke in a teasing tone. Branch glanced at Trollex and decided he’d try to help another troll out. “I’m sure someone in Techno Reef could make them, it’s not that difficult once you know what you’re doing, right?” Branch was right, if they knew what they were doing they should be able to make one. “Where do you live Hickory?” Star questioned. “We live in the mountains.” “Ohh, really? We love the mountains. Our families took us to the mountains a few times during our winter breaks from school. Right Ash?” Ash shrugged. “Honestly, I think a prefer the trips we had to the beach over the summer. Last year we stayed in that really cool beach house that was right on the beach.” Star nodded. “Are you saying you want to go with King Trollex?” Star raised a brow. The king perked up once more. 

~

“What do you think our families are doing?” Ash mumbled to Star. “What do you think they think happened to us?” Star sat beside Ash on the bed. “I can’t even imagine how they must feel, and you’re an only child.” Ash looked at Star as she spoke. “At least my mom and dad would have my brother to keep them going. I don’t know how I’d go on if I lost my only child.” Star frowned; she hadn’t thought about that. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find a way home. My great great great grandmother knew about trolls and even claimed one helped her meet her husband. There has to be someone here that knows about humans and a way for us to get home, right?” Ash didn’t answer, honestly, she had no idea.  
Star nudged Ash in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Well, Isa probably thinks we summoned a troll, and it ate us or something.” Star laughed to herself. Ash stared at Star confused. “Why would Isa think we summoned a troll?” “Oh, because I originally asked her to join me in summoning a troll. She looked at the spell and called me crazy, talking about how it looked dangerous and I should probably sprinkle the book with holy water.” Ash looked at Star in disbelief. “Isabella told you it looked dangerous and not to do it, so instead of listening to her you pulled me into it?” Isabella was their one friend that was really into this kind of stuff and honestly if she told someone to stay clear of some spell it would be best to listen to her. Star shook her head. “Actually, Isa told me if I was so desperate to summon a troll, I should ask you.” 

“Wait, she told you to ask me to do it even though she thought it was dangerous?”  
“Well, she said you were the only one dumb enough to go along with my dumb idea.”  
“I’m not dumb.” Ash huffed in annoyance. She blinked slowly then frowned. “Okay, after seeing the summoning circle I’ll admit it was a dumb idea. It looked way too much like something you’d use to summon a demon. People shouldn’t play with stuff like that.” Ash was pretty sure they got off lucky regarding that. Though the best outcome would’ve been no outcome.   
“I seriously can’t believe Isa warned you not to do it and you did it anyway, dragging me in.” Star frowned. “Well, my great great great grandma did it, so I thought it had to be safe. If I didn’t have the information about her doing it of course I would’ve listened to Isa but.” Star sighed. Excuses didn’t matter now, it had already been done.  
“Hey Star?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I really don’t think it’s a good idea for us to split up. I know everyone is insanely friendly, but I really think it’ll be best if we stay together.”   
“You don’t want to stay in Pop Village.”  
Ash shook her head. “All the singing and dancing is driving me crazy.”   
“The other trolls revolve around music too; do you think they sing as often as the pop trolls?” When Ash didn’t answer Star continued. “I agree, we probably shouldn’t split up. We don’t even know how far they all live from each other. Honestly though, the rock trolls kind of intimidate me.” Ash frowned. “Really? The ones I’ve spoken to have all been friendly.” “I wonder how often the techno trolls sing. Think it’s all day?” Ash shrugged. “We still don’t know if we can go underwater and breathe.” “I have a feeling we’ll be able to, also King Trollex really wants you to go.” Star mumbled. “We’ll see. But I really don’t want to separate from you. If you don’t want to go to Rock City, we’ll have to mark it off the list.” “I’ll visit it with you, maybe it’s not that bad? Though the lava rivers sound a bit scary.” Ash’s eyes widened. She had forgot about that. “Do you think it’s really hot there?” Star shrugged. “The country place is an option, what’s the name of it?” Star questioned. “I’m not sure I ever caught the name of it.” “What about the funk place?” “I’m not living on a spaceship.” Ash stated bluntly. “So what? We’re down to Country place, the mountains Hickory lives in, Rock City, and Techno Reef, which we may or may not be able to breathe in? Though I really think we’ll be able to.” “I thought we were marking Rock City off the list?” “I said I’ll visit with you first.” “Do you like country music?” Ash tried to remember a time when Star ever spoke about country music. “Not really.” “Then why suggest it?” 

~

Ash, Star, and Hickory sat relaxed by a stream. “Yeah, and so she grabbed this random this random kid thinking it was her cousin and was like ‘the line starts this way’ the kid told her okay and stood where she dragged him for an awkward moment then walked back to whoever he was with. Now this kid was like ten or twelve and it’s a no-no touching random kids where we’re from. Especially if you grab them and walk off. So, Ash steps to the side and her cousin walks up to her. She paused a moment because her cousin walked up to her from the opposite side, then she realized she grabbed a random kid. I think the funniest thing was the fact the kid was a whole head taller than her cousin and he wasn’t even wearing the same color shirt.” Star and Hickory laughed while Ash pouted. “Why are you only telling him embarrassing stories about me? Anyway, that story is not even that funny.” They moved on talking about cars and education in their world. How everyone needs a job and money to survive. Plus, the fact everything was insanely expensive, and many people struggled to make ends meet. “What do people do if they can’t afford it?” Ash and Star glanced at each other.  
“Homeless?” Hickory frowned. “That sounds horrible, you really want to return to that?” “Honestly, the main reason is our families and friends. They probably think the worst happened to us.” Star frowned as she spoke. “We were supposed to start university this fall. It’s a big thing for people our age, the first time we can get away from our family and live on our own in dorms with other students.” Ash nodded. “Plus, the stress from studying and passing everything.” She added. Hickory raised a brow. “Well, here you’d never have to worry about something like that.” “Yeah, it’s crazy how welcoming everyone is. Honestly, it was a bit much to take in when Queen Poppy welcomed us with open arms. Plus, everyone else we’ve met being so welcoming and willing to take us in. You, Queen Barb, and King Trollex, it’s all so overwhelming.” Ash smiled at Hickory. Hickory grinned at Ash. “Yeah, especially King Trollex huh? He really wants you to visit Techno Reef.” Ash didn’t catch his sly tone as he spoke. “Yeah, I hope we’re able to visit him. I don’t want to disappoint him.” “He really likes being close to you.” A thoughtful look crossed Ash’s face. “You think so?” Hickory bit his lower lip to keep from laughing. “Oh, I know so.” When Ash just looked confused Star sighed in annoyance. “You’re not usually this dense.” “Dense about what?” Star just shook her head. 

~

“Hey! My friend Bridget is here, I want to introduce you two to her.” Poppy grinned as she ran towards the two humans. “She’s over this way, she has a bit of a difficult time coming into the village. Let’s go.” She grabbed their arms and started to tug them in the opposite direction. As they approached the area Poppy’s friend was waiting for them Ash’s hazel eyes widened. An extremely large creature stared down at them with a smile. Ash glanced at Star who looked just as surprised and leaned a bit closer lowering her voice. “Imagine us summoning a bergen or ending up where all the bergens live.” Honestly, she looked like what Ash had imagined trolls to look like before ending up in this world. Poppy noticed their surprised expressions and decided to quickly share the story of how the met Bridget, and how she became best friends with her. “Bergens use to eat trolls?” Ash looked at Poppy horrified. Poppy nodded. “Yeah, but only because they believed it was the only way they could be happy.” “They used to eat you.” Star repeated what Ash just said also looking horrified. “They don’t anymore though. They realized they can be happy without eating us.” Poor Bridget looked ashamed of their history. “I’ve never ate a troll.” She whispered. Ash felt bad seeing how sad the poor girl looked and spoke up. “What you did was amazing, you saved everyone and helped make everyone realize they didn’t need trolls to make them happy.” The older bergens should definitely feel ashamed for their past, but she didn’t want the bergen in front of them to feel bad. Especially after all the good she did. “You said you were going to look again for some information about humans, did you happen to find anything?” Poppy asked her friend. “I’m sorry, we weren’t able to. Gristle even helped me look.”   
As Poppy caught up with Bridget about life Star turned to Ash. “Hey, do you think she’s actually a giant or do you think we shrunk when we fell through the portal?” “I have no idea, if we did shrink, I hope we return to normal once we go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had hoped to get five chapter out this week, but it might end up only being four. I have a party to go to Saturday that'll end up being all day. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you have any ideas to ship Star with a character I'm open to ideas.
> 
> *Just edited because I realized I typed Vibe City instead of Techno Reef this chapter smh


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash learns a little more about the history of the tribes. Also spends more time with Trollex.

It was becoming more and more unbearable, not saying anything. Star stared at the human and troll interacting. They were talking about Techno Reef, though the conversation had originally started with the three of them, Star had started to feel like a third wheel and excused herself. Though being the noisy person she is, she didn’t move too far. When Ash started laughing loudly and leaned closer to the King, Star frowned. I should’ve stayed within listening distance. She thought bitterly. 

“I really don’t want to leave Star, but honestly, I’d like a break from the nonstop pop music.” Ash sighed as she glanced at Star doing a horrible job at trying to be inconspicuous. “You don’t like pop music?” “No, I do. I just liked it more when I was younger, I even went through a phase as a preteen where I was obsessed with boy bands. She blushed to remember how embarrassing she acted during that stage. “There was this one member, I was so sure I was going to marry him. I even thoroughly planned our wedding.” Ash covered her face as she spoke, her face heating up more just remembering that awkward time. Trollex grinned as he waited for her to continue. “I’m pretty sure I’ve got a scrapbook somewhere at home where I planned out my wedding to him, I was so in love.” She laughed at herself, thinking about a photo of ten-year-old her and a teenage boy from the pop band, their faces glued on a bride and groom. “But when I got to high school, I moved on to rock music. It’s currently my favorite genre.” “What’s high school?” “Oh, we start high school at fourteen or fifteen. Typically, people finish by the time they’re nineteen, some people finish at seventeen.” Trollex looked thoughtful for a moment. “So, do you want to marry someone in a rock band now?” “I mean, I’ve had crushes on certain members of bands I like, but I’m not planning any wedding. I’m a tad bit more realistic now. I’d be lucky to even meet them.” She laughed awkwardly. “Anyway, I’ll probably be staying in Pop Village because I doubt Star will want to live in Rock City. She said she’ll visit but knowing her she’ll start to mope because she really doesn’t want to live there.” Ash turned to see if Star was still watching them. Guess the weirdo finally left, she thought when she didn’t see the blonde. “What about Techno Reef? If you can breathe.” “Do you play music all day like Pop Village?” Trollex shook his head. “Mainly only at night.” I could deal with it if it’s only at night. I might even like the music. She thought. Trollex grinned when he noticed she was seriously considering it. “I could find someone to make your cappuccinos.” He teased. “Cappuccinos and a realistic amount of music?” He nodded. Well shit, I hope we can breathe under water. “I really hope we can breathe underwater; it sounds perfect. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind Pop Village if they just sang at night.” Trollex watched the pop trolls performing the final song of the night. “It’s getting late.” Ash nodded. “Yeah, we should go to bed. I can’t believe they wake up at sunrise and start singing. I miss sleeping in.” She pouted. The king stood and offered his hand to Ash, his hand was warm and oddly soft. It was surprisingly similar to the other trolls. “Thank you.”

~

“I can’t keep quiet any longer!” Ash fell off her bed when Star let herself in without knocking. “What the hell Star?” “Look, I tried to keep quiet. I really did, but it’s too much. Every time he’s near you and doesn’t say anything. Every time you walk away from him still clueless of something so obvious I-“ “Are you referring to the fact Trollex is interested in me.” “I just want to grab your shoulders and, wait, what did you just say?” The look of disbelief on Star’s face made Ash wish she had her phone to take a photo. Ash laughed. “You’re referring to the fact he’s interested in me, right?” Honestly, that was the last thing Star expected to come out of Ash’s mouth at the moment. She was so sure her best friend was completely oblivious regarding the situation. “Uh, yeah. So, um, when did you figure this out?” Ash shrugged. “The last conversation I had with him. He was really interested to learn more about me. Beyond the basic stuff, all the trolls here want to know, he wasn’t really asking about our world. He wanted to know about me.” Star tossed Ash an odd look. “And?” “And what?” “He wants you to go to Techno Reef, he wants you to live there. You’ve told him that it’s on your list. Isn’t that leading him on?” “I’m a new exotic being. Once he realizes I’m not really that interesting his small crush will fade. It’s no big deal, if we move there it might even help him realize sooner that I’m actually not that interesting.” 

Star fidgeted. “Have you thought about, you know….” She trailed off staring at the floor. “No, I don’t know.” Lifting her head, she glared at the brunette, who just raised a brow in return. “You do know what I’m trying to say.” Still, Ash refused to say anything. “If there isn’t a way home, I don’t want to die old and alone, you know? I feel like it’s weird like it’s crossing a line. Yet when I speak to them, I almost forget they’re different than us.” Star frowned when the brunette continued to stare at her with a blank expression. Ash was really going to make her say it. “Watching the way he interacts with you. Hickory and Branch have noticed, and they didn’t seem phased at all that King Trollex seems to have a crush on you. I’m sure Queen Poppy has noticed but she hasn’t acted bothered either. So, I don’t think anyone here would think it’s weird or be put off by it.” The two sat in silence for a moment. “You’re such an asshole sometimes. Have you thought about having a romantic relationship with a troll? Like in the future if we aren’t able to return.” “No.” 

To call her out on the lie or to not call her out on the lie?

“Liar, I know it's had to cross your mind and-" Ash cut her off "We need to focus on getting home. Not whatever weird fantasy you're starting to create in your mind." Her tone was sharp, leaving no room for argument. Star knew Ash was right, but she couldn't help but let the thought cross her mind. She scoffed. Whatever, I'm sure it has actually crossed her mind. “I was about to go to sleep; can you leave now?” Star frowned. “You couldn’t say that in a nicer way?” 

“You’re the one that burst into my room without knocking. Knock next time.”

~

The smell of old books was overwhelming and the silence disturbing. Is this some kind of antique library? Ash wondered to herself as she glanced around the room. All four walls were lined with books and there was a large wooden desk in the center. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, unsure of what she should do. After a few minutes, she decided to take a look around. The bookcases covered the walls ceiling to floor and the room was lit by lamps placed on the walls where there were gaps in the bookcases and one larger lamp on the desk. She stepped to the center of a bookcase and pulled a dark book down. It wasn’t in English. She reached for another, then another, and another. None of them were in English. Ash frowned as she stared at the text in the book, they were all in the same language it seemed, though she didn’t recognize the alphabet. The lack of windows made her more uncomfortable. No windows and the door wasn’t open. When she stepped closer to one of the lamps on the wall, she felt her stomach twist. It was a gas lamp. Without giving it much thought she quickly rushed to open the door. Locked. Not only was it locked, but it was a solid door, as she pushed on the and pounded it didn’t move and it barely made a sound. The only thing she accomplished was bruising her hands. “I’m going to die if I can’t get this door open.” She mumbled to herself, fearing that that gas lamps could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. A recent news story from her hometown played through her mind as she tugged once more on the door. Suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped. She wrapped her arms around herself and frowned, realizing for the first time she was only wearing a thin white gown. This isn’t mine. “You seem comfortable with the trolls, I’m surprised.” A nonchalant voice came from behind the brunette. She glanced over her shoulder to see a woman with long black hair. The stranger wore an emerald green Victorian-style dress. The way she held herself and the look she gave Ash made the brunette feel small and less than. “Trolls?” What is she talking about? Who is she? The woman raised a brow. “How disappointing.” She sounded more irritated than disappointed; the woman stepped closer to Ash. “I have no need of you if you have no memory at the moment. Leave me.” Before Ash could question the odd statement, everything went black.

~Do you remember, 21st night of September?  
Love was changing the mind of pretenders  
While chasing the clouds away  
Our hearts were ringing  
In the key that our souls were singing  
As we danced in the night  
Remember, how the stars stole the night away~  
Groaning, Ash sat up in her bed. What time is it? They start this way too early. She thought to herself as the pop trolls sang outside. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes someone started beating on her door. “Damnit Star. It’s too early.” She yelled at the door. “Well, you’re awake now so open the door.” Ash scoffed. “Leave me alone.” As soon as the words left her lips the dream caught up with her. ‘I have no need of you if you have no memory at the moment. Leave me.’ The words echoed in her mind. She frowned, why did the dream seem so real? Ash called for Star to open the door.  
“What’s up? You look pale.” Ash glanced towards the blonde. “I just woke up. Sorry I don’t look like I’m about to walk the runway.”  
“No, I mean you look weird.”  
“Thanks, Star.”  
“No, I mean-“  
“I had a weird dream, that’s all.”  
“Ooooh tell me more.” Star grinned and sat on the foot of the bed.  
As she told the story of the dream and the odd comment the woman made, Star’s eyes widened. “Oh wow, I wonder what it means?” Ash just shook her head. “I doubt it means anything. Just a weird dream.” “All dreams have meanings.” “Well, let me know if you figure out what my dream meant okay? Anyway, I’m going to find Hickory. I need a cappuccino. Get out so I can get dressed.” As Star left Ash glanced down at her hands, her chest tightened painfully at the sight of the bruises. 

~

While walking around Pop Village with Barb a loud scream rang throughout the village. “I’m having a baby!” A green troll ran out into the middle of the village. “I’m having a baby!” They cried once more and sat on the ground. Ash stared in confusion. If that troll is having a baby, why isn’t someone helping take them to a more private location? The confusion turned into concern as nobody seemed to be helping the troll. A few trolls had stopped but nobody was actually doing anything other than watching. Ash turned Barb to ask what the hell was going on and what was wrong with everyone when she heard a loud “Oh!” it was the troll. She looked back towards the troll in time to see an egg pop out of its hair. The blue egg had blue hair sticking out the top. The troll grinned and set the egg down in front of them, a moment later a baby popped out of the egg.  
What

The

Hell 

As the troll decided on a name and the baby started talking Ash just stared with her mouth open. “Uh, is something wrong?” Barb nudged her. “How?” Ash motioned towards the troll and his new baby. Queen Barb seemed a bit confused by the question but explained everything anyway. The male trolled laid an egg, from his hair? Well okay then. It was best not to think too much into it right now, especially with Barb tugging her away from the troll. However, Ash soon noticed Star a good distance away, and despite the fact she had decided not to think too much about it at the moment, she couldn’t help it. “Sorry Barb, I have to talk to Star. Catch up later?” Barb shrugged. “Sure, later.” As soon as Barb turned her back Ash rushed to Star. “I need to talk to you.” “About what?” “Let’s go back to my room.” 

“Wait what?” Star sat on the bed looking beyond confused. For once they were in her room instead of Ash’s. “Yeah! Trolls reproduce asexually. Apparently, males and females can do it. It was crazy, the egg popped from his hair and hatched. Then the baby started talking.” She did crazy motions as she told the story. “Wait, they reproduce asexually?” Star got a thoughtful look on her face as she processed this new information. “So, if they reproduce asexually, I wonder what their romantic relationships are like? Obviously, the King and Queen of funk are in a romantic relationship, and Branch is Queen Poppy’s boyfriend. But I wonder how romantic relationships differ from the romantic relationships in our world.” Star stared at the wall and as she thought more. “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone here kiss or anything.” Ash shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m leaving now. Bye.” Why couldn’t Star just listen to the interesting new tidbit about the trolls? She always overthinks, Ash didn’t want to listen to Star go on and on with theories about the trolls’ romantic lives at the moment. 

~

Watching the king and queen was so mesmerizing, they looked so in love. Watching the two of them interact it was obvious to her that trolls loved just as humans did. As Ash continued to watch the two of them dance, King Trollex sat down next to her. She almost laughed at the curiosity on his face, she probably looked like a weirdo staring that them that way. “They remind me of my grandparents.” She answered his unspoken question. “My grandparents were the only two people I’ve ever seen with such pure love. Still so in love after so many years. The King and Queen give off the same aurora my grandparents did.” The king turned his full attention to the human. “Do they like to dance?” He questioned. She shrugged. “I don’t remember them dancing when I was younger, my grandfather had an accident and couldn’t walk the last few years. They both passed away when I was younger.” Before he could get a word in, she changed the subject. “This world is like a fairytale land or something.” She bit her lip thinking about how she should word the next sentence. “I know there were the bergens, but are there any other dangerous beings in this world? Even creatures or something from old stories?” Trollex looked thoughtful for a moment. “The only real danger we’ve faced recently not counting the bergens, was the rock trolls.” “Rock trolls?” Trollex nodded. “Yeah, Queen Barb went on a world tour to capture everyone and make them rock zombies-“ “Rock Zombies?” Ash cut him off, her eyes wide. Trollex laughed awkwardly, his eyes darted around for either Queen Poppy or Queen Barb. It would probably be best if one of them explained it.  
“Rock zombies?” She nudged the king as she questioned him once again.  
“Yeah….”  
“Why? How?”  
“Well…” he doubted he could explain it better than Queen Barb or Queen Poppy. When at least one of the two queens still didn’t appear, he figured he’d explain what he could and they could just fill in any blanks he left, he turned back to the human ready to speak, and froze. Was she always this close? He gulped, completely forgetting what he was going to say. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled and appeared on the other side of her.  
“Anyway, they’re no longer any danger to us.” He motioned to a rock troll and country troll chatting. “There isn’t anything else, at least nothing has come up.” Ash frowned. “Wait back up, what happened with the rock trolls.” She turned back to the king, once again moving closer. “We once had strings that represented our music…” 

Once he completed the story Ash just stared at the ground for a moment with a blank expression. God, this place is so weird. Strings? Needing the strings for their music? Changing all the strings to rock, then the strings being destroyed. “Wait, you were a rock troll? Do you remember it?” Trollex grinned at the question. “That’s the first question you’re asking?” “Well, do you?” The king shrugged and thought about it a moment. “Kind of, but it wasn’t a long amount of time so there isn’t much of that to remember. During those moments though it’s a bit foggy.” There were a lot of gaps Ash was curious about, however, being the first tribe attacked Trollex couldn’t offer much to fill in those spaces. After the story, she didn’t feel comfortable bringing up the history with Barb, and she didn’t know how it’d go if she brought it up with Poppy. I can’t ask either of them, it would be rude and I’m still a stranger even if they are insanely welcoming. She thought to herself. “So, are there any stories you grew up with?” Ash paused trying to figure out how to word it. “Like warnings or something? If you don’t do XYZ a witch or something evil might get you? Any stories with that type of thing?” When Trollex just seemed confused she decided to offer one from her childhood. 

“So, when I was younger all the kids talked about Bloody Mary. It was said if you light candles and stand in front of the bathroom mirror at night and say Bloody Mary three times she’d appear in the mirror.” When Trollex looked confused she quickly added more details. “She’s an old queen. She was supposed to appear in the mirror covered in blood and looked terrifying.” His confusion morphed into concern. “What happened when she appeared?” Ash opened her mouth only to close it a moment later. I haven’t thought about Bloody Mary since I was like ten. She thought to herself while trying to remember what exactly was supposed to happen other than scaring the shit out of kids with her appearance? “I don’t remember.” She laughed awkwardly. “I was always way too much of a coward to even try it anyway.” Trollex laughed. “Cowardice or common sense?” “I didn’t think about that when I was ten years old and my friends were teasing me, yeah, it should be common sense not to test things like-“ Ash paused. Wait a minute. Trollex jumped when Ash suddenly slapped her own forehead. “Are you okay?” She waved off his question. The fact she and Star didn’t use common sense and instead tested things like that were flashing through her mind. “Well, at least it’s nothing like Bloody Mary.” She mumbled to herself, confusing the king beside her. “Anyway, so do you have any stories like that?”  
Trollex glanced off to the side, wracking his brain for any stories that might fit what she was referring to. “Oh, actually there’s one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to come out a few days ago, but I got caught up in something so I made the chapter slightly longer than I originally planned. The next chapter should be up Sunday. Also planning to have the second chapter of my AU Trollex story up by Sunday.


	5. Chapter 5

“There’s an old story, my grandmother used to tell me. Long ago, there was a being who would grant wishes. Though the wishes always had a price, rarely was the wish worth more than the price you paid to get it granted.” Trollex stared off as he spoke, it had been so long since he even thought of the being. He struggled to remember certain details. “It wouldn’t push you to make the wish, but because the consequences were so high, most trolls stayed away. Though because of how dangerous the consequences could be, when my grandmother was still young the king at the time forbid anyone to speak of it so people would forget.” 

“A being?” Ash questioned, when Trollex nodded but didn’t offer more Ash frowned. “Do you know what it looked like? Anything about it?” 

“No, my grandmother only knew the basic story. She didn’t even the last time any wishes were granted. The elders warned everyone but didn’t share any information about what consequences trolls had faced. I don’t know how the being was summoned to grant a wish either.”

“So, if your grandmother was young and they were being that secretive about it, how did she learn about it the being and the wishes?” 

Trollex laughed sheepishly. “I don’t know. Honestly, I was so young it never crossed my mind to ask.”

Ash laid back on the grass, stretching out and covering her eyes with palms. Wondering if the story of the ‘being’ granting wishes had to do with what happened to her and Star. However, neither had wishes granted nor were they warned of any consequences. She glanced at her bruised knuckles, could the woman from her dream be ‘the being’ that granted wishes for the techno trolls? Maybe other troll tribes have similar stories? She sighed covering her face, she was starting to get a headache from all of this.

“You’re so different from trolls.” Trollex mumbled. 

Ash lifted her hands and turned to look at him. 

He hadn’t actually meant to say that aloud. However, seeing her laying on the ground like that just made the slight differences between her and trolls pop out more. When she didn’t reply he felt pressured to speak more. “I mean, it’s odd. You’re so similar to the pop and rock trolls, but still so different.” When she still didn’t reply he motioned awkwardly to her limbs. “You and Star are so-“ He paused trying to find the right word to describe them. Ash lifted her hands in front of her own face. 

“We’re built thinner than trolls.” The two humans weren’t even that thin to begin with by human standards. They weren’t large but were average. Ash sat up and glanced at her thighs, the blue dress Satin and Chenille had kindly made her ended above her knees. “There are humans a lot thinner than us.” She mumbled as she poked at her thighs. Trollex’s eyes followed her stare. “I was really clumsy as a child.” She touched the scars covering her knees as she spoke. Her mom always teased she’d never be a supermodel with all her scars. She wasn’t even sure if trolls scarred like humans did, but if he was confused, he didn’t mention it.

Trollex carefully reached for her left hand and pulled it towards him. He ran his finger over her fingernails, something trolls didn’t have.  
Ash glanced at the king’s hand. “I can’t imagine not having nails, I always take mine for granted until I break them or have to trim them for something.” Trollex looked towards Ash as she spoke. “I had to cut mine once because of a class I was taking in school. But later my back started to itch, and my nails were so short they were useless. I had to deal with that over a month.” She frowned at the memory. She’d always had long nails even when she was a child and having to go without them those few weeks really opened her eyes to how much she actually uses them. When Trollex didn’t respond she slipped her hand from his to rake her nails gently across his shoulders.  
Her hand sat in midair when the troll disappeared, only to appear on the other side of her a second later.  
He looked like he’d seen a ghost. “Are you okay?” She mumbled before realization hit her. 

“Oh my god, did I hurt you? I’m sorry, I didn’t think I scratched you that hard-“

His shocked expression didn’t change as he slowly shook his head no. 

Ash frowned at his reaction; she was sure she accidentally hurt him. As she sat there the awkward silence was becoming too much. “I, um, I need to go talk to Star.” 

The troll still seemed to be in a state as he nodded his head. 

~

It was probably rude to leave him in that state, she’d just bring it up later and apologize again. She assumed he didn’t want her to feel bad about the fact she had actually hurt him. It wouldn’t be the first time Ash unintentionally hurt someone with her nails, that was one flaw of them. She was sure she barely scratched him though; trolls must be much more sensitive than humans. At least the techno trolls, she’d have to keep that in mind.  
It took a few minutes, but she was eventually able to find Star, who was chatting with Hickory. “Hey guys.” She grinned as she approached them. 

“Hey sweetheart, how are ya?” The yodeler grinned back. 

“I’m okay.” 

“You want a cappuccino don’t ya?” 

Ash laughed and rubbed the back of her neck. “I mean, I’m always in the mood for a cappuccino to be honest. Though, I actually came to ask you a question. Do you have any legends or something about a being granting wishes?” 

Star raised her brow at the question. 

“Granting wishes?” 

“Yeah, though they come at great consequences.”

Hickory rubbed his chin as he racked his brain. “I don’t think so, but I could ask Dickory.” He offered. 

“Yes, please do.” 

Star nudged Ash. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Ash whispered back. 

While Hickory stepped away to make some drinks for everyone Ash pulled out a notebook. “Could you do me a favor? I need you to ask some pop and funk trolls about any legends they might have regarding a being granting wishes. I’ll ask the rock and country trolls if they know anything.” 

“Uh why?” 

“I told you I’ll tell you later, I just need you to ask them if they know anything. The leaders have already gone home but there’s a few funk and country trolls who are around.” 

“Tell me now.” 

Ash rolled her eyes at the blonde, why was she so stubborn? “It’s honestly not something I want to talk about in public. It’s kind of complicated.” 

~

Queen Barb raised a brow at Ash’s question. “A being that grants wishes?” 

Ash sat across Queen Barb with a guitar in her arms, the queen was still attempting to teach the five fingered human how to play the guitar. It wasn’t going well. Ash struggled to figure out where to place her middle finger as the queen pondered the question. 

“There is one story, an evil being that grants wishes. But I don’t think it’s true, just a story to scare young trolls into not being too greedy.” Barb thought back to the stories Carol’s father would tell them when they were younger. 

“Do you know what the being looked like?” Ash questioned, still struggling with the guitar in her arms. 

Queen Barb shook her head. “No, they didn’t really have an appearance. That doesn’t make sense, I think it was supposed to be like mist or something like that? I don’t really remember.”

Barb shrugged. “Anyway, we’re heading back to Volcano Rock City in a few days. Are you coming with?” 

Oh, right. She was hoping to push that in the back of her mind for a bit longer but if Queen Barb is leaving so soon, she really needed to make a decision and she knew Star really didn’t want to go. As she struggled with her thoughts the pop trolls broke out into another song. Queen Barb and Ash shared a look. 

“I really want to go, but I’m worried about Star.” 

Queen Barb glanced over Ash’s shoulder as she spoke, the human turned to see the Techno King. When their eyes met his widened, he awkwardly waved before disappearing. Ash turned back to Barb. “That was weird.” Barb nodded in agreement. “Really weird.” 

They chatted for another hour before Ash decided to dismiss herself, the guitar laid to her side forgotten. She had tried just moving a finger out of the way to use only three of them, but it didn’t help much. Honestly, she’d probably actually have to get her finger cut off the learn to play the guitar in this world. Fortunately for her fingers she was quite fond of all five of them so that wouldn’t be happening. 

On the way back to her pod she came across an older country troll who shared that he’d heard of similar stories when he was younger but hadn’t heard anyone talk about the being that granted wishes since he was a young troll. Ash found it odd that the rock trolls seem to still tell stories about the being to their children, but it seemed the techno and country trolls tried to leave the stories in their past. 

“Hey! You gonna tell me now or what?” Star grinned as she approached Ash, Hickory was not far behind her. 

“Did you do what I asked you to do?” 

Star threw her arm around Ash’s shoulder and grinned. “Yup.” 

“Okay, well, let’s go back to my room and talk. Were you able to speak to your brother?” Ash questioned Hickory as she removed Star’s arm. Hickory nodded. “Yeah, I got a bit of information.” 

“Great, you could join us?” 

As they spoke Ash noticed Trollex not far from them, before she could greet him though he quickly disappeared.  
Star tilted her head in confusion. “That was weird.” 

“I’ll explain in my room.” Ash mumbled leading her two friends to her pod. 

~

So, it turned out everyone had a story of a being. With everyone but the rock trolls taking it extremely seriously and it turned out King Peppy hadn’t mentioned it to Queen Poppy because of how fearful he was of the supposed being. Ash decided not to get into the conversation about how Star was able to get King Peppy to have that conversation when he hadn’t even told Queen Poppy yet. She found him to be an odd troll.  
However, none of the stories said anything about the being having a solid appearance. 

“So, anyway, you were gonna explain the Trollex thing?” Star grinned causing Ash to roll her eyes. 

“I think he’s avoiding me.” 

“Why?”

“I accidentally hurt him, and he’s been acting weird ever since. He acted awkward when he came across me while I was talking to Queen Barb too.” She sighed. “I honestly didn’t think I scratched him that hard? I guess trolls are just more sensitive than humans. Or at least techno trolls.” 

Hickory raised a brow. “You hurt him?” 

Ash nodded and raised her hand to show her nails. “We were talking about our differences and I mentioned my nails. I scratched him to help explain what I was referring to, but I guess I hurt him because he started acting strange and now he’s avoiding me.” 

Hickory stretched out his arm “Let’s see.” 

Realizing he was asking her to scratch his arm she shook her head. “No, I don’t want to hurt you too.” The troll didn’t drop his arm and stared at her expectantly, after a few seconds she realized he wasn’t going to budge, and she scratched below his elbow. 

“That’s not painful.” Hickory stated bluntly. 

“Well, I guess techno trolls are just more sensitive then? Their bodies are slightly different than other trolls.” 

Star rubbed her chin. “You scratched his arm there?”

“What?”

Star motioned to the area Ash had scratched Hickory. 

“What? No, it was here.” She moved to scratch Star across her shoulders similar to the way she touched King Trollex. Star’s eyes widened at the contact. 

Oh. Star bit her lip to hide her grin. 

“What?” 

“Nothing.” 

The blonde turned to Hickory; she didn’t want to bring it up to Ash without speaking to a troll about it. Would it be weird to ask Hickory? Hickory tilted his head in confusion when he noticed Star staring at him. “Anyway! Well, it’s late. We should head out.” Star grabbed Hickory’s arm as she headed towards the door. “See you tomorrow Ash.” 

Ash sat on her bed in confusion as the two left. “It’s only six o’clock.” She glanced at notebook with a frown, guess I’ll have to tell her about my dream tomorrow. 

~

“Welcome back.”

Ash blinked in an attempt to get her eyes to focus, her head felt heavy and she struggled to place her surroundings. Once her eyes focused, she realized the odd woman in the emerald dress was standing across from her and she was once again in the library.

“You’re the ‘being’ from the stories, aren’t you?” 

The woman raised a brow. “So, you have your memory this time.” 

“What are you?”

Ash frowned when the woman didn’t answer. 

“Why are we here? The stories say that you grant wishes, and the wishes have great consequences. We didn’t make any wishes; we didn’t have any wishes granted.” 

“These are consequences being fulfilled from a wish many years ago. They were foolish to believe they could escape it.” 

Before she could question who ‘they’ were everything went black. A pop song pulled her from the dream.

She sat up in bed with a frown, she wasn’t stupid. That woman had to be the being from all the Troll legends, but that didn’t explain why her, and Star were dealing with consequences from someone else’s wish. It didn’t make sense. She groaned, it was too early, and the music was making it difficult to think. Ash reached for a notebook on the table beside her bed and quickly wrote down the details of her dream, fearing she might forget something important from them later on. 

~

“Grandma, I need to talk to you about something.” Kathy took a deep breath as she approached her grandmother. The family debated telling the woman, they were worried about the toll it would take on her health. “It’s about Ash.” 

Kathy told her all the information she knew regarding the situation, how Ash and her best friend Star disappeared without a trace. Neither had packed clothing like they were running away, and police found no signs of foul play. They seemed to be at a dead end.

As Doreen let her granddaughter’s words sink in, she frowned. A conversation she once had with her grandmother pushed itself to the front of her mind, it had been decades since she had thought about it. Yet, after hearing about Ash’s disappearance the words her own grandmother had once told her played hauntingly in her mind, completely distracting her from whatever her granddaughter was saying about the disappearance.  
“She disappeared with a friend?” Doreen cut Kathy off from whatever she was saying. 

“Yes. But we don’t think they ran away. It doesn’t make sense, Ash didn’t even take her phone or the book she was-“ 

Doreen cut her off once more. “What’s her friend’s name?” 

While Doreen loved her great granddaughter, they weren’t that close. The generational gap and distance they lived from each other made it difficult to properly build a relationship with her youngest great grandchild. She only saw her granddaughter and great granddaughter during holidays. “Is it that Thompson girl that’s always on her facebook post?” Her stomach twisted as she asked the question. 

When Kathy confirmed it was indeed that Thompson girl Doreen stood from her chair and headed towards her bedroom. “There’s a story my grandmother used to tell me, my mother told me I shouldn’t take it seriously, that my grandmother’s mind was crumbling.” As Doreen spoke Kathy followed her to the bedroom. “She would tell me a story of how our family is cursed, that her and her best friend made a mistake when they were younger. It was a story of creatures called trolls and an evil witch who granted wishes. She truly believed the story to be true, I’ll never forget the fear in her eyes as she told me the story.” Doreen opened her walk in closest and turned towards Kathy.

“There’s an old wooden box on the top left shelf over there, please get it down and bring it to the dining room table. I fear I’ve made a mistake never telling you this story.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I read somewhere that a good amount of people hate if there is no spacing between characters speaking. 
> 
> Like instead of it being written in a paragraph as they speak people prefer it to be spaced. I was actually really surprised and a lot of people said they don't even read a story if it's not spaced that way. So um, is that true? Which way do you prefer? 
> 
> So that's why it's changed if you prefer it the other way I'll switch back. 
> 
> Thanks for the kudos.
> 
> Also, I didn't actually type it out but Kathy is Ash's mother and Doreen her great grandmother if you didn't pick up on that.


End file.
